Tourists visit Thien Mu pagoda in Thua Thien-Hue

The eight-month figure rose by 22.8 percent to over 10.4 million. The number of visitors by air increased by 17.3 percent while those by road and sea rose by 62.1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. 

During the period, visitors from Asia accounted for 77.2 percent of the total, up 27 percent annually, mostly from China (up 28.2 percent), the Republic of Korea (52.4 percent), Japan (5.3 percent), China’s Taiwan (14 percent), Malaysia (13 percent), Thailand (10.9 percent) and Singapore (5.4 percent). 

The number of holidaymakers from Europe grew by 9.8 percent year-on-year, including Russia (up 7.5 percent), the Netherlands (8.4 percent) and Sweden (14.2 percent). Arrivals from five Western European countries entitled to Vietnamese visa exemption also climbed, with the UK (6.7 percent), France (10.6 percent), Germany (7.9 percent), Spain (10.9 percent) and Italy (15.3 percent). 

GSO statistics showed that tourism revenue hit 26.8 trillion VND (1.16 billion USD) in the past eight months, up 17.6 percent annually. Several localities posting high growth, including Ba Ria - Vung Tau (24.2 percent), Ho Chi Minh City (22.4 percent), Lao Cai (19.3 percent), Quang Ninh (17.2 percent) and Hanoi (11.2 percent). 

The tourism sector set the target of serving 15 - 17 million foreign visitors this year, up 16 - 30 percent annually, and about 80 million domestic ones. 

According to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Viet Nam was placed sixth among 10 countries with the highest foreign tourist arrival growth by the World Tourism Organisation. A number of Vietnamese travel agencies received the world’s noble prizes. 

In order to satisfy domestic and foreign visitors, the VNAT launched a movement to encourage hotels, restaurants, cafés, bars and tourism-business establishments to offer free restrooms, notably at Bien Dong park in the central city of Da Nang.